Presents recieved

This is just a thank you to all the gift givers. We gave hugs while we were there but let it be forever known (or until Achned the terrorist takes down the WWW) that we love the gifts.

We appreciate all the gifts for us and the kids. They have been played with (especially in the car ride home) and used non-stop and they were just what the kids are enjoying right now. Candi and my gifts were perfect also. It's amazing how well you nailed us down even with us being gone from the family so much. I hope we can call and write more often the gift exchange will be easier as the years go by. I hope you are enjoying yours just as much.

Also, thank you for opening your homes for the "homeless Sickels clan" for ten days. We had a lot of fun and made a lot of memories in that short time. I am really happy to have spent time with you all and that the kids were able to get to know you more. God has really blessed us with great family! We'll start adding rooms so you can all come down next year. There's something awesome about hiking in the desert on a "cold" Tucson Christmas day. We love you.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

Real quick - we drove home yesterday (from MN). 1600 miles and 29hours straight thru. We bought some drugs, er, new movies for the kids to watch on the last half of the drive around noon and picked up some madlibs. Then took a shower at a truck stop in Tucumcari (only $9 bucks for those traveling across the country, but try showering two adults and three kids in 10 minutes - it's amazing no one got hurt). I now believe Clark Griswald is a genius; he knew what true family bonding time was.

Praise Jehovah for beautiful roads again... and that we weren't next to the semi and six cars we saw on their sides/roofs after the few bad hours of freezing rain. In the words of the great philosopher Sid the Sloth, "I choose life."

What's snow funny?

Today was another awesome day in the snow! Uncle Peter hooked up a sled and a tube to his ranger (four wheel drive ATV type thingy) and pulled the kids all over his property. We have a DVD slide slow of the pictures that is hilarious. The joy on their faces in some pictures was only matched by the shear terror displayed in others. All was well until Christian decided the sled had done enough work and tried using his face instead. The sled failed to tell Christian that it doesn't cry or feel pain when drug across hard packed snow/ice at speeds in excess of six mph.

Anyway, I doubt any of them will forget that for a while. It's probably best that Wyatt was asleep with his daddy while this was all going on. We've found that high danger recreational activities and 100% fearless toddlers don't mix well.

Merry Christmas to all.

You got to know when to hold 'em.

Last night was a fun night for me. I played Texas Hold 'em for the first time (at least, for money. It's not really playing when there's no money on the line and people are going all in on the first hand) with my step-mom, wife, brother, and step-brother.

I know that knowledge doesn't equal experience but there are a lot of people at work that talk daily about how they did at the tables the night before. One guy in particular is very good and has won thousands of dollars in the last two years playing Hold 'em and Blackjack. Anyway, they talk about strategies, how to play the cards, and how to play people (and not the cards). Well, I won the nights pot and have to attribute it to listening to the guys talk. I could tell when people were bluffing, trying to bully me, or trying to buy the pot. Now I'd like to take a night at the casino and find out whether I truly did learn something or I was just playing my family... either way, President Jackson and I are close friends now.

Snow much fun!

So far the kids have been having a blast sledding and playing in the snow. We stopped at Walmart and picked up some gloves, mittens, and snow boots. We borrowed snowsuits for the boys and my mom made a new batch of winter hats for everyone. There actually wasn't much snow when we got to Minnesota and it was too cold (about 7 degrees F) to make snowmen (I won't go into that for those that don't understand how snow works). The kids were kids, though. They made fun out of it anyway.
The next day we bought saucers and went to a local hill. We all (Wyatt included) had a lot of fun on the slopes.. er, slope. I'll add pictures later. We were out there for hours until our cheeks were red and Wyatt was mistaken for a snowman. Of course, we returned to the house as victorious sledders and basked in the steam of hot chocolate. There are disadvantages to living in sub-freezing weather, but there are some fun parts, too. Plus, it is just a vacation and we can keep telling ourselves that in two weeks we'll be Tucson again.

The Long Haul

We arrived in Minnesota (my parent's home) today around 0600. It was a long 36 hours. Well, we didn't actually drive for 36 hours; only about 24. I was approximately 1700 miles and to my great surprise gas was about 20 cents cheaper once we left AZ and continued that way for the whole trip. We didn't get to see a whole lot because all but six hours was during darkness. We left at 6pm Sunday night and drove until 2pm-ish Monday in Emporia, Kansas (KS?). We stayed there until 10pm and then went the rest of the way. It was definitely tiring but about $600 cheaper than flying (in addition to rental vehicle). The kids were great and the weather was perfect. Honestly, I give glory to God for how smoothly the trip went because I couldn't have planned it any better! We're here for the rest of Christmas time and will be leaving to come home on the 26th. I'll write later to fill in on the holiday "spoils."

It is finished!

I spent all of today and a lot of last night studying for quizzes, taking quizzes, and writing papers for Evangelism and NT survey classes. I'm ecstatic to say I'm done and just happily waiting for the grades to post! What a rough eight weeks. I'm pretty sure I will not take two classes online again (unless the AF sends me to work away from my family for at least eight weeks). The only courses left have a heavy work load. I was able to earn six credits in eight weeks, but I didn't necessarily learn all that I could have from the classes; I was just trying to get all the work done.

Candi, thank you for giving me the time to study (especially those times it wasn't done happily).
Travis, thanks for the "big picture" viewpoint - I really needed to focus on the 20%! Plus, thank you for letting me ask intrusive questions. I got to finish an assignment and get to know a dear brother at the same time... on to Theology 1 and 2! Ha!

Serving my purpose

Today I did something I've never done before. I shared the entire gospel with someone and didn't end up just debating about pointless Christianity/religion/God subjects. I have always had the desire to tell people about how and why I chose to follow Jesus (that's probably a "duh" thing for a Christian to say), but have never been able to get the conversation to focus on the individual's need. It always ends up just being a theological discussion of whether or not the bible can say it's the only holy book, God is loving, abortion is wrong, etc., etc., etc that doesn't actually challenge the other person to consider their position with God and their eternal destination.

However, the Evangelism course I took thru Liberty University really equipped me to overcome the typical fears and difficulties involved with sharing the true, life-saving gospel. I was actually required to witness and then do a report on it to complete the class. I had intended to witness to someone else, but God led me to witness to someone completely different. It felt great to witness. I always thought it would be scary and nerve wracking - it wasn't. I can only say I'm so thankful for being taught a proper way to present the vital facts and for being forced to do it. I think it's like any other act - the more it's practiced the better I'll be at it (or just more comfortable).